Israeli forces return to Jenin refugee camp

Israeli tanks backed by helicopters hunted militants in the Jenin refugee camp today, returning to the scene of April’s fierce fighting.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer insisted that a security agreement with the Palestinians was still alive.

Exchanges of fire erupted between gunmen and the soldiers but there were no immediate reports of any injuries, Israeli army radio said.

Troops searched from house to house but did not initially make any arrests as two attack helicopters hovered overhead.

Israeli forces have been positioned in or around the camp, imposing a curfew, as part of an operation in most West Bank towns that began at the end of June in response to suicide bombings

in Jerusalem.

But despite the operation, Ben-Eliezer said today that a security agreement reached last week with the Palestinians was still in effect.

According to the understanding, Israeli troops withdrew from the West Bank town of Bethlehem and were scheduled to do the same in parts of the Gaza Strip, in exchange for Palestinian efforts to prevent attacks on Israelis.

“The process is going on,” Ben-Eliezer said. “I am very satisfied with what is happening in Bethlehem. I am also satisfied with the efforts being made in the Gaza Strip.”

Ben-Eliezer said in a separate interview with Israel Radio that the Palestinian security forces are not having much success enforcing the agreement since the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have vowed to continue their attacks.

Two mortar shells fell in Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip early today, causing no injuries but putting in doubt the possibility that the security agreement would soon be implemented in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli soldiers foiled an attempted attack by militants on a settlement there on Friday.

Palestinian officials had said yesterday that the agreement was dead since Israel was refusing to transfer security to Palestinian forces in the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza and Bethlehem troop withdrawals were meant to be test cases for further Israeli pull-outs from West Bank areas.